The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian is a serialized science-fiction story for kids, told in 15-20 minute episodes for parents to put on when driving around town, or to marathon on road trips, or to bond over before bed. When pressed, we describe it as a “mystery gang” story, sort of like Scooby-Doo meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in space. The story centers on Finn Caspian, an 8-year-old boy aboard The Famous Marlowe 280 Interplanetary Exploratory Space Station. He and his friends Abigail, Elias and Vale are Explorers Troop 301, taking off from the Marlowe to explore uncharted planets, help the occasional alien, and solve a mystery that threatens to destroy the Marlowe.

The story is written and performed by Jonathan Messinger, author of Hiding Out, former web editor of Time Out Chicago Kids, and father of two boys. We only mention that because his son Griffin, 6, serves as editor of the story, appearing in episodes to critique, make predictions and express skepticism that his father knows what he’s talking about, which also happens to be the way the rest of their relationship works. We welcome all listeners to tell us who their favorite character is, what they think is going to happen, what they think should happen, what they’d like to see next. Record your ideas and we’ll try to play them on the show. You can get them to us via our contact page.

As with anything, we recommend listening to The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian before playing it for your kids. But we will say it’s targeted for ages 5-10, and contains no violence, a little bit of suspense, and some aliens who are real chuckleheads.